“But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come see the place where He lay’” (Matthew 28:5-6).
The gospel of Jesus includes some staggering claims!
In six days, the entire universe was created by a triune God, a God who knew no beginning. The second person of the Godhead, Jesus – God the Son – took on human flesh and blood, and was born of a virgin. 2000 years ago, the only begotten Son of God walked Planet Earth. Then, for crimes He never committed, Jesus was nailed to a brutal cross. He suffered and died, and was buried in a borrowed tomb – sealed by a massive stone.
The most staggering claim is what happened next: On the third day, He walked the earth again!
The earliest Christians testified that Jesus was risen from the dead. For years, they proclaimed the resurrection – without holding back. They were ridiculed, imprisoned, beaten, and tortured. To avoid such treatment, all they had to do was recant.
But they did not recant.
There was no plausible reason for those first followers of Jesus to claim that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Unless He did.
In the words of the Roman historian, Tacitus, the cruel emperor Nero “inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.” To claim that Jesus Christ defeated sin and conquered death via an empty tomb could be lethal. It could cost you everything. It sounded entirely ridiculous.
Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) was afounder of Harvard Law School, who published his “Treatise on the Law of Evidence” in 1842. Mr. Greenleaf set out to disprove the resurrection of Christ and dispel the myths of Christianity, but was arrested by faith instead. I’ll share a smidgen of Greenleaf’s description of Jesus: “He is represented in very variety of situation in life, from the height of worldly grandeur, amid the acclamations of an admiring multitude, to the deepest abyss of human degradation and woe, apparently deserted of God and man. Yet everywhere He is the same; displaying a character of unearthly perfection, symmetrical in all its proportions, and encircled with splendor more than human. Either the men of Galilee were men of superlative wisdom, and extensive knowledge and experience, and of deeper skill in the arts of deception, than any and all others, before or after them, or they have truly stated the astonishing things which they saw and heard.”
Greenleaf’s bottom line was this: The Bible’s witnesses are reliable, and that the resurrection is a reality.
Yes, the resurrection sounds ridiculous.
Unless it’s true.
From the start, followers of Christ were ostracized and shamed. Most of the immediate followers of Jesus died for their faith. In parts of the world, it’s still happening today. As I pen this blog posting, believers in Nigeria and Syria are being hunted down by Islamic terrorists. On Palm Sunday evening, more than forty Christians were slaughtered – and others badly injured – by Jihadists in Angwan Rukuba, Jos North. And, throughout human history, there’s a constant: People won’t don’t die willingly for what they know to be a lie.
You see, friends, the resurrection is no ordinary claim. Believing it changes everything. And affirming it is risky business.
But affirm it we do!
The resurrection is central to how we view the world – and in fact central to who we are. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins … If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
Without Christ’s resurrection, and ours, you and I will strive ceaselessly toward performance and works-righteousness. It comes as natural to us as breathing. But striving after the law – even God’s law – will not make any of us better in any way. The law does not make us good. What it does accomplish is exposing us as lawbreakers and sinners. Paul had lived that life – to the point of rounding up the earliest followers of Jesus for persecution and execution.
Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, we will manipulate religious rules until we think that we appear righteous. We’ll pretend to be someone we know we’re really not. A “Christianity” without resurrection – and I mean a real resurrection – is religious mumbo jumbo completely devoid of hope. It leaves us with nothing to rely on but ourselves – which gets us nowhere fast. It’s worse than no religion at all. We’re left with a bunch of moral imperatives which make us feel superior to our neighbor, inevitably leading us to hate our inferior neighbor. It’s a religion of ruthless, holier-than-thou hypocritical judgment.
Only the resurrection sets us free. It’s the difference between “do” and “done.”
I’ll be honest. Despite my knowing the reality of the resurrection – and the victory which Christ won for us – some things still exhaust me. I suppose that I can speak for you too when I say that some days this world is wearying at best. Some guilt still tries to shackle us and hold us down, doesn’t it? That freedom which we know is ours in Christ can feel a bit elusive. But this I know: We can lay down every burden at His risen feet.
My friends and fellow pilgrims, I offer this magnificent benediction from God’s own Word (Numbers 6:24-26) …
“The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”
He is risen indeed!
Pastor Charles
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